East Finals | Bears snap Sharks winning run

Featured image: Aaron Camua | @aaron.camua

The Sutherland Sharks might have been the hottest NBL1 East team entering the finals but the Norths Bears ended their nine-game winning streak with the 93-79 qualifying final win with Matthew Wacher hitting five triples.

The two teams only played last Saturday night and it was a tense thriller where the Sharks ended up winning 63-62 on their home floor with Jason Spurgin making the winning basket.

That meant Sutherland arrived at North Sydney Indoor Sports Centre on a nine-game winning streak having locked in third position by the end of the regular season at 14-6 while the Bears ended up second at 16-4.

That set up a tantalising match up including having three NBL26 Sydney Kings championship winners out there with Hunter Goodrick for the Bears, and Spurgin and Tyler Robertson for the Bruins.

King coaching pair Brian Goorjian and Andrew Bogut were on hand to watch too and it was Norths back on their home floor with the better of the start to be up 30-21 by quarter-time.

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That lead for Norths grew to 16 points in the second quarter and by half-time they remained leading 56-42 on the back of Matthew Wacher scoring 14 points and Bailey Hanson 11 while Bailey MacArthur had 10 with 2/2 three-point shooting for the Sharks.

The rest of Sutherland only went 1/10 from the outside in the opening half with Norths going 8/19 and 53 per cent overall to the 39 per cent from the Sharks while Sutherland also had eight turnovers to just two from the Bears.

The Bears remained in control with a 14-0 scoring run in the third quarter to suddenly lead by 26 points and then with 27 to 15 overall in the third term, they were up at the end of three 83-57.

That lead was then 28 to start the fourth with the first two points as well to make that 16-0 run and from there they went on to win by 14 despite just the 10 points in the last frame and 22 from the Sharks.

The win sees Norths earn the week off and lock in a home preliminary final finishing up shooting 17/43 from behind the three-point line for the game to just 8/29 from the Sharks.

Matthew Wacher ended up with 17 points, three rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots with 5/8 shooting from the outside for the Bears.

Bailey Hanson also had 17 points with 5/10 three-point shooting while Lachie Bofinger contributed 13 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, Hunter Goodrick 12 points, five boards and five assists, Wani Swaka Lo Buluk 10 points, and Iggy Mitchell 10 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Sutherland now will use their second chance and play host to the Maitland Mustangs in a semi-final next Saturday night with Tyler Robertson finishing with 18 points, five rebounds and four assists despite going 2/12 from the outside.

Bailey MacArthur also had 17 points and three rebounds with 3/3 from downtown, Jason Spurgin 16 points, 10 boards and two assists, Luke Jamieson 10 points and seven rebounds, and Lochlan Hutchison eight points, four assists and three steals.

NBL1 EAST 2026 SEASON | QUALIFYING FINAL

NORTHS BEARS 93 (Wacher 17, Bofinger 13, Goodrick 12)

SUTHERLAND SHARKS 79 (Robertson 18, MacArthur 17, Spurgin 16)